


Shall we dance? | Side B

by Sailorami



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 08:58:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8483314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sailorami/pseuds/Sailorami
Summary: A side B of Shall we dance? because Yuu wrote such a good starter for all of this. THANK YOU YUU. /SMOOCHES





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yuujiloid](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Yuujiloid).



“Thanks for coming along with me again,” the small silvered haired girl smiled to her much taller companion.  
  
“No problem”   
  
Cain was starting to get used to being dragged out to the street dancing events Nova frequented. Yet, if he were to be honest, street dancing wasn’t something he had much interest in at all. Cain’s specialty was ballet. To him it was calm and soothing, the complete opposite of these events. But he figured since Sophie and Kai were often busy spending their time outside of the studio attending family business, the least he could do in his spare time was to support a friend. Aside from those from the studio, he wasn’t very good at dealing with people at all, and even with them he seldom spoke unless he was spoken to first.   
  
As the two were watching the various performances, Cain couldn’t help but notice a particular dancer. He was a blonde-haired boy and shorter than Cain, at least from what he could tell from his distance away. But the thing that struck him the most about the boy were his eyes that seemed ready to take on anything.   
  
When it came time for the boy’s performance, Cain gave his full attention. The boy’s movements were rough compared to what Cain was used to, but also so full of energy that he couldn’t help but keep watching. When the dance was finished, the boy gave a big smile as the crowd cheered and he made way for the next performance.  
  
“That guy...” Cain finally said after the cheering died down a bit.  
Nova, just barely catching what he said, looked up surprised he was actually paying attention. As usual, his expression made it hard to read what he was thinking.  
  
“You mean Tristan? I see him around at events from time to time so I know of him. But I’ve never actually talked to him. What about him?”  
  
Cain paused for a moment before replying. What  _about_  him?  
  
“I just thought his personality really shone through his performance. He has potential,” he finally replied.  
  
Nova looked back toward the crowd where Tristan was and before she could ask Cain what he meant by what he said, he had already turned to leave. “I think I’ll head back early this time.”  
  
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then!” she smiled and gave a small wave and Cain nodded in response before making his way out. When she saw that he was out of sight, Nova turned toward Tristan’s direction again. “Hm...” Maybe it was about time to have a little chat with the fellow dancer.  
  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Finally back at home, Cain collapsed onto his bed. He felt physically and mentally tired from practice and thinking about the day’s events. He was still trying to comprehend what he was feeling earlier. After some time, he sat up and shook his head and decided forgetting about it would probably be for the best. After all, it wasn’t as if they were going to meet anytime soon and if they did, what would he even say?  
  
In an attempt to clear his mind, Cain switched on some classical music while going through the steps in his head until he eventually fell asleep.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning, Cain was the first to arrive at the studio, though by now this had become the norm. It wasn’t that he minded the others being around, as they were so few that they were all able to have more space than they knew what to do with, but Cain found quiet comfort in an empty studio as he did his early morning routines. He was lucky, in this small group, that they were all so understanding. Cain had often showed up early, but would realize that the doors would be locked and simply wait outside until Kai or Sophie arrived. After a few weeks of that, they collectively decided that he would get his own key as long as he was responsible with it.

 As he sat on the floor, stretching all of the muscles in his body, his mind went back to the dancer from yesterday, mostly remembering the striking look in his eyes that happened throughout his performance. Cain sat up and spent a few moments looking at his reflection in the mirror in front of him. He couldn’t help but wonder the kind of look _he_ gave during performances.

“Spacing out already?”

His thoughts were interrupted by Nova walking into the room. “You’re early today.”

She gave a seemingly innocent look back towards him that caused him to raise an eyebrow questioningly, but he decided to just ignore it. Throughout the day, however, her behavior only got stranger. She would have random moments of herself looking at Cain and getting a smug look on her face, or she would glance at the door as if she was expecting someone. Cain wasn’t all that surprised when nobody arrived however, as the dance studio was generally empty. Nova could only give a small, defeated pout as she left.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been just another morning, when suddenly Cain was giving a small dumbfounded look towards the figure in the door. Where he had never expected to see him again, the blonde-haired boy from Nova’s last street event was now here, in the studio. Before anybody had the chance to react, however, he had begun apologizing to Nova. As she went around giving introductions, Cain couldn’t help but wonder what kind of relationship they had, and he felt a twinge of emotion that he wasn’t quite familiar with. The pair finally made their way to him, and Cain could feel a small stir forming deep inside him as the two locked eyes for a brief moment.

“Finally, this is Cain. He’s a real pro, who practices incredibly hard. So try not to get in his way, okay?”

With Nova speaking for him, Cain simply nodded in response. Tristan, on the other hand, didn’t seem to give any reaction other than a spaced out look back at him. He gave Nova a look, and she simply shrugged back to him, neither of them knowing what he had meant to do. Cain went back to his things and rummaged through his bag for a few moments. There was nothing in his bag he particularly needed, but for some reason he had felt as if he needed to regain his composure.

This person he had been hoping to forget about was suddenly very real and in front of him once more, and from what Nova had described, they were all going to give him small private lessons in their time off. Cain gave out a small sigh to pull himself back together before getting back to his regularly scheduled practice.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the next few weeks, Tristan had come back daily to learn various dance styles that were focused on in the studio. Finally, the time had come for Cain to teach him some very basic lessons in his specialty, ballet.

When he walked into the studio, he was surprised to see that Tristan had already arrived and started his stretches, despite the closed studio.

“I’m not as strict as Nova, you don’t have to show up particularly early to count as on time.”

Tristan gave a small laugh and, for what seemed like the first time since he had arrived, once again made eye contact with Cain.

“This is just a whole new style I’ve never considered before, I just wanted to be sure I was ready…”

When they were finally ready to start the lesson, Cain felt that he needed to give a word of warning to Tristan.

“Now, I hope you don’t mind but it’s much easier to guide you by direct contact, so try to ignore all of the touching and simply focus on how your body has moved.”

Tristan gave a small blush and a nervous “o-okay” in response, and Cain once again felt something flutter inside of him. Quite the opposite of him, Tristan was incredible honest and loudly wore his emotions on his sleeve. He couldn’t help but find Tristan a bit endearing.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After his first day, Cain felt that he may have gotten a little bit overexcited about his lesson and gone a bit overboard. At the end of it, you could practically see steam coming out of Tristan’s head. He had wanted to ask if he was sure he would be alright, but wasn’t quite sure how to find the words for it.

Simply planning to leave after such a long, irregular day, Cain was stopped in the hall by Tristan catching up to him for a minute.

“Um! I just wanted to say thanks for the lesson today. It was a lot to take in but I promise I will try my best.”

Tristan, once again, managed to catch Cain off guard. He struggled to find a response, only managing to give a nod before quickly turning around to leave and covering his now red face. Cain had never met someone so…. Genuine before, and it made for a nice change, though he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it yet. Perhaps he could get advice from the others…

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, as soon as Tristan had left, Cain stood up and was determined to make today the day he asked for actual advice. It was new for him to do, and he was a bit nervous about bringing up something so personal, but he felt as if there was a wall between him and Tristan that he needed to overcome if he ever wanted to get to know him better.

He had walked up to Kai and Sophie, who had seemed to be in the middle of one of their usual fake-arguments about who knows what. They both smiled and acknowledged Cain.

“Hey Cain, what’s up!”

Sophie’s cheery demeaner had suddenly seemed almost charming.

“…..Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you guys for some advice.”

Sophie and Kai had both seemed to make the same dumbstruck expression and Cain felt a twinge of regret. Maybe he should have started with Nova.

“Oh my gosh! Cain! Whatever it is, we’d be more than happy to help if we can!”

Sophie leaned towards him expectantly, and Cain looked down to the floor. Their pushy attitudes were not exactly helping make this easier.

“I was…. Looking for advice on how to ask somebody to your ball, actually…”

The pair once again exchanged excited looks, but Kai was the first one to actually speak up.

“So you’ve found an interest in someone, that’s incredible! You came to the right place for help in the ideas of _L'_ _amour~”_

Sophie quickly cut in, giving Kai a questioning look. “Is that supposed to be you? Please! You’ve never even dated before!”

Kai flipped his bangs before responding, “Just because I’ve never dated doesn’t mean I don’t know about a maiden’s heart.”

Sophie laughed. “Well then! Do you have a date to your charity ball coming up? Because I do!”

“Whether I do or not is no- wait, you do? Who? Your father doesn’t count I’m afraid.”

Sophie stuck her tongue out at him in response and crossed her arms in front of her.

“Of course it’s not dad! It’s another guy I know. But hey! We’re not talking about me here, we were talking about you!”

Once again, the pair had started another one of their arguments and Cain excused himself from the conversation. As he was about to leave, Nova joined him as he made his way outside to go home.

“So, I kind of caught that conversation a bit. You should have known better than to go to Sophie and Kai when they’re together like that.”

At that, Cain couldn’t help but give a small smirk. She was right, of course, as the pair were impossible when they were around each other. Nova patted Cain’s back, responding with a smile.

“There he is! You know, even with a smirk like that, your face brightens up quite nicely. Listen, if you want solid advice, the only real way to go is to talk to them. I know it’s not the easiest thing for you to do, but it is the most straightforward way for both of you to understand each other’s feelings!”

Flashing a smile in his direction, he sighed. Her advice had seemed so obvious, but the real question was whether or not he could really bring himself to do it.

“Don’t worry so much! I’m sure you’ll knock ‘em dead! Though, you could do with a small smile every now and then, or you’ll scare ‘em away! Here’s my stop though. Good luck!!”

With that, she ran back from where she had come from, leaving Cain alone with his thoughts. He would find the right time to express his true feelings, and hopefully that would be before the ball actually took place.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luckily for Cain, that time didn’t seem to take very long at all. The whole morning, Tristan had been having a pretty rough time with his usual routine. They had been practicing for a while, and Cain had definitely seen some small improvements on his basic movements, but today, for some reason, all of that had seemed to go out the window.

Going over to the CD player and shutting off the music, Cain went back to an apologizing Tristan.

“I’m sorry I’m off today! I promise I can do better, I just, I don’t-“

He was silenced when Cain placed his hand on Tristan’s shoulder understandingly.  
“We all have our off days, don’t overdo it. How about we go get some tea?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cain and Tristan ended up at a nearby Boba Tea store, and though it was quite large on the inside, it was Cain’s favorite shop because it was never busy.

“Thanks for the break. This is nice, every once in a while.”

Tristan gave a small smile as he seemed to take his first few happy sips of his drink. Cain tried to strengthen his resolve, and convinced himself that this was the time for him to ask Tristan to Kai’s ball.

“Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you. Some advice, maybe?”

Cain looked down at his drink while Tristan could only manage to look at him in disbelief. He couldn’t bring himself to make direct eye contact with him, though he was silently kicking himself for that.

“O-of course! If there’s anything I can help you with, I’d be more than happy to!”

Cain fiddled with his drink, trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say.

“You’ve probably noticed by now, but I’m not…. Particularly good with people…”  
He waited for the blonde boy’s response, wondering whether to expect sarcasm or mockery, but Tristan only continued to have his focused attention on Cain’s face. He decided to try and continue.

“I’m sure you also know that Kai’s charity masquerade is next week as well.”  
Cain continued to look at the floor, giving off a soft blush and a slight look that Tristan had never seen in him before. He felt his resolve fading a bit, but continued anyway.

“There’s….. someone I want to ask to go with me, but I’m not quite sure how to break it to them. We haven’t known each other long, however….”  
Cain couldn’t find the words to get straight to the point. He felt like he should have practiced before he got here. After all, how hard should it have been to say: “Tristan, will you accompany me to the masquerade?” His eyes lifted up in surprise as Tristan gave off a laugh that sounded a bit off-putting.

“Ah, is that all? You don’t have to worry about that, no girl would ever be able to resist your charms if you put your mind to it!”

Cain squeezed his cup tighter as he felt his chest tighten up as well. Obviously, he knew that was not what he meant, but Tristan had somehow seemed to receive a mixed message from him. Though he had never mentioned another person, his roundabout way of asking obviously was the wrong decision.

Tristan had made up some obvious lie about leaving and practically run out the door, leaving Cain alone, once again, with only his own thoughts. For a brief moment, he had considered following him, but even if he did, he had no idea what to say. For now, he decided to let him go. That would at least give them both time to compose themselves and figure out exactly what it was they were trying to say. Just until tomorrow.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomorrow had arrived much slower than anticipated, however, Tristan did not. Every time the door opened, Cain would look up expectantly only to have it not be Tristan. He hadn’t missed a day since they started lessons nearly a month ago. Was it something he said?

Cain began to regret not chasing after him yesterday.

Before he knew it, it had become later in the day, and Cain was out of it. He was worried about what he had done, and what he could do to fix it.

“Hey. Tristan isn’t here? That’s odd. Did he tell you anything?”

Cain couldn’t bring himself to respond, and instead simply gathered his things.

“Sorry, I’ll be leaving early today.”

His friends gave a surprised look as he made his way out the door, but he hardly noticed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to focus today with Tristan on his mind. Though he wondered how long this would last. Arriving back home, his usually comfortable apartment suddenly felt very lonely.

Cain turned on some classical music, which often helped him clear his mind and regain his focus. He thought long and hard about Tristan, trying to figure out his thoughts and feelings he might have exhibited towards Cain, but he came up blank. He thought he paid so much attention, but he suddenly realized he might have been focusing on the wrong things.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Cain was once again the first one to the studio. He had decided to continue his usual routine, and only change it again if Tristan had decided to show up today. By the time the others had shown up, he was already back into his regular rhythm.

Sophie and  Nova couldn’t help but exchange worried looks, and dragged Kai out into the hallway.

“That’s already the second day Tristan didn’t show up? What could have happened?”  
Sophie started.

“I hope he doesn’t think I was serious about him not coming back if he was late again…… I’m a bit worried about him…” Nova quickly pulled out her cell phone and quick-dialed a number the other two knew quite well. “I’m going to get his address and me and Sophie will pay him a visit today. We need to be sure he’s okay!”

The two redheads gave a nod and Kai went back into the room to see if he could extract any information out of Cain, which proved nearly impossible. Cain was usually hard to read on his own, but when his mood was more sour and he was trying to focus, Kai very quickly got on his nerves and was subject to his piercing glare.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the morning of the masquerade, Cain stayed in bed. It was a very rare opportunity for him to get the chance to actually use his mornings for sleep, and his thoughts about it were very conflicted. On one hand, he often hated the idea of sleep, as he felt his time could be used in a much more productive manner. On the other hand, it was still sleep.

Suddenly, a knock came at his door and he flipped over to stare at it, hoping that whoever was on the other side would go away. The knocks persisted, however, and Cain dragged himself out of bed, making his way to the door, bedhead and all.

“Heee- oh, wow. That is some major bedhead.”

At his door, Nova and Sophie stood in front of him and he scratched his head. Nova quickly pushed him inside as Sophie followed behind her.

“What are you doing, why aren’t you spending this time getting ready for the ball?”

“Oh, was that today?”

Cain responded dryly. He had been avoiding thinking about the masquerade, since there seemed to be no motivation for him to go anymore. Usually he had agreed to support his friends and their events without question before, but something about the idea of not being able to go with Tristan twisted him up inside, and he couldn’t stand the thought.

“Please. It won’t take long for you to get ready, so let’s go, chop chop!”

Sophie pushed him over towards the direction of his closet as he gave a yawn.

“Look, I appreciate you guys coming over, but I don’t think I’m going to make it tonight.”

Sophie gave off a distressed face, while Nova’s showed more concern.

“Cain, you have to come! It’s a big deal, and it wouldn’t be complete if you just skipped it!”

“Is this about Tristan?”

Hearing his name again, Cain looked down at the floor.

“You can’t just give up on this! You need to face this and be honest with yourself.”

Nova seemed to be stating matter-of-factly, while Sophie had been rummaging through his closet throughout the conversation.

“This one! Here’s what you should wear tonight. It’ll be perfect~”

Sophie handed Cain the tux and beamed a smile at him, though he hadn’t seemed convinced.

“How… will I even know if he’s there….”

Though he muttered it, the pair in front of him were still able to pick up on it.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of everything! Just leave it to us!”

Cain gave a skeptic look at the two girls, but eventually just gave a sigh.

“I’ll think about it.”

Sophie was almost ready to put up a fight about it, when Nova grabbed on to her and started pushing her out the door.

“We’re looking forward to seeing you!” she said, before the two of them were out and he was left with nothing but a sleek black tux in his hands.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Good evening to you my wonderful company!”

Kai had begun to address his guests at the party as Cain walked into the extravagant event. It didn’t seem to be as big as their usual events, but it might have been because the planning was so last minute. Behind his mask, Cain scanned the room. He had always been good at being able to find a face in the crowd.

Kai had continued going on about some special dance, and Cain suddenly found himself being pushed on to the dancefloor by a careless stranger. Finding himself in a line, his neighbors linked their arms to him, and he found himself moving along to find his next partner.

As the music stopped, he couldn’t help but stare in disbelief. Though his face was covered by a mask, Tristan stood in in the line across from him, and Cain could feel himself swelling at the thought. The problem was; however, he was paired with the man next to him. Without thinking, Cain grabbed his neighbor’s shoulders and switched places with him. Though he wanted to protest, the neighbor in the ponytail didn’t seem to really mind being paired with the much smaller, yellow-haired girl who had been in front of Cain.

Cain offered his hand out to Tristan, who didn’t seem to be making any eye contact with him at all. He wondered if that was better, and if Tristan would rather not know his identity. He pulled Tristan in close to him as the pair began to waltz. Cain had spent so much time worrying about what he would say to Tristan when they next met, but when they were here simply dancing together, he couldn’t help but feel like this is all that was needed. There were no words that could express his feelings in this moment, and this dance they had begun seemed to be working better than he could have ever expected.

Cain suddenly began humming along with the tune they were dancing to, something he hadn’t done in a very long time. He felt completely at peace, and thought he was exactly where he belonged in that moment. Without warning, Tristan rested his head on Cain’s chest, causing him to tense up for a moment as he felt his heart skip a beat. With a sudden realization, Tristan took a step back before Cain skillfully pulled him into a spin so that the two would finally be able to look at each other. Tristan’s eyes widened as he slowly grasped his situation.

The song had come to an end, though Cain and Tristan stayed in their embrace for a few lasting moments.

“I…thought you may have come to dislike me…”

Cain didn’t let his gaze break away, until Tristan had let him go and stumbled backwards into three people. It seemed he was trying to run away again, but this time, Cain was determined not to let him get away.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Making their way on to the balcony, Cain made sure to maintain some distance so he wouldn’t scare Tristan off. Cain was surprised when Tristan suddenly turned around into a deep bow, with a bit of blubbering coming through between his apology.

“I am so sorry. I just keep running away, but I don’t mean to be…”

Cain pulled Tristan up into a hug as he took off his mask to get a clear look at his face. Though his eyes were puffy and his face was red, Cain couldn’t help but caress his face anyway and begin wiping the tears himself.

“I hope I didn’t ruin your night. Were you ever able to ask the person you wanted to? I know my advice probably wasn’t what you needed to hear….”

Cain blinked down at him and then shook his head, taking off his own mask.

“Actually, you ran away before I managed to ask…”

The gears had finally begun rolling in Tristan’s head, as he gave off an odd look before trying to hide his bright face.

“O…h my god. It was me? Oh noooo, I’m so dumb!”

Once again burying his face into Cain’s chest, Cain couldn’t help but gently pat his head for comfort. This whole misunderstanding had seemed a bit ridiculous, but it was comforting to Cain to know that it was nothing that couldn’t easily be fixed. Tristan had seemed to continue talking, though Cain couldn’t always clearly make him out.

“I should have stayed and listened, but I got so worried about the thought of you being here with somebody else, and I-“

Cain gently grabbed Tristan’s face and lifted it up to meet his, bravely stealing a kiss from the blonde boy. Though it wasn’t his original plan, Tristan had seemed to be going on and on about nothing, and Cain needed a way for him to relax, even if only for a moment. With a gentle smile, Cain was finally able to find a moment to respond.

“I know I told you I’m bad with people, but I think you may have it just as bad as me…”

This might have not been the best decision, as soon Cain had found himself trying to hold Tristan up from nearly falling over. He suddenly felt his face flush, as his smile widened a bit and Cain instinctively moved his sleeve to hide his face.

Suddenly, Tristan grabbed hold of his hand, and beamed. “You know, you might just be right. But hey, as long as it lets me see more of your surprisingly cute smile.”

The couple stayed outside for a few moments before some curious looks came out on to the balcony and couldn’t be ignored. Kai seemed to be giving the two a haughty, knowing look, as Sophie stated how sensitive Tristan was, (only with love of course), and Nova gave a genuine congratulatory smile to the two.

The pair avoided eye contact with their brightly blushing faces, but quietly clasped their hands together before making their way back to the party.

 


End file.
